Be Happy That…

My single friend Sarah called me last night in one of those bummed out moods because her whole search for love seemed like a pointless, hopeless, exhausting effort. Not to mention, the overtime at work was killing her and her bathroom just flooded. “Can something in my life please go right for a minute?” she asked.

(Clarkson Potter Publishers)

We addressed the real stuff, how she probably needed to take a rest from dating while she found a place of calm and happiness in herself—and sorted out that bathroom. But on a lighter note, if you’re ever feeling like this, sometimes it helps to remember some of the more unlikely or even absurd reasons to be grateful. Enter a book about upbeat, offbeat reasons to smile: Be Happy That…This Book Isn’t Covered in Poison, Plus 100 Other Reasons to CHEER UP. Some of those other 100 reasons:

Be Happy That…you don’t have to take making “eye contact” literally.

Be Happy That…you’re not naked on live television.

Be Happy That…your coffee maker doesn’t decide if you need coffee.

Be Happy That…you don’t have a nervous habit of eating important papers.

I only realized after reading the book that my friend, Jordan Burchette, had a hand in writing it. Which now makes total sense, given his out-there sense of humor. (The other authors are Melissa Heckscher and Pat Mellon.) But I commend him and his co-authors for the effort. As they say in the book’s introduction. “Stop being so ambitious about your happiness and try smiling a little. Consider laughing at the absurdity of it all.”

They have a point—a great one! So the next time you look at your life and wonder as Sarah did, “Can something please go right for a minute?” look at a few things that are. Perhaps you have your health, a home, some friends. Perhaps you just read my rad list 3 Big Reasons Your Life Rocks (Yes, YOUR Life). Or perhaps, at the very least, you could be happy that, as the authors say, “you’re not a bulletproof vest tester.” See? Life could be so much worse.

Big love and happy laughing,

This entry was posted
on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 9:30 am and is filed under Optimisms.